The Glass
by Bara in Blue
Summary: You know all those stories where Naruto gets trapped in his infamous jutsu? This one has the same concept but a different story. Just what jutsu IS Naruto best known for?
1. Prologue

AN: Well... this is the prologue of my first chapter fic. The idea came to me when I was scrolling through the Naruto section and I notice just how many "Naruto gets stuck in his sexy-no-jutsu" fics there are out. I wanted to do something a bit different.

The beginning may sound very familiar because it's taken directly from chapter 48. Yes, that is where shonen jump is right now but I am at chapter 237 and eagerly awaiting the next. I have some ideas on how to play on the current arc, so I will warn in advance that there will be lots and lots of spoilers.

Other than spoilers, I haven't decided on any pairings to warn you about but I do enjoy SasuNaru a lot... I haven't even decided if there are going to be pairings, so this is moot right now. There may be an OC but she won't be paired with anyone if there is romance.

Ok... I'll free you from my drivel now.

_Italic_ equals thoughts

The Glass

Prologue

by Bara-chan

* * *

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

****William Shakespeare

* * *

****

"Hey, are you okay...? You big chicken?!" Naruto huffed at Sasuke as he held the giant snake back.

_Damnit! This looks bad! But... That look on Sasuke's face is just priceless. Makes me want a camera._ Before Naruto could get an answer from Sasuke, a long tongue wrapped around his shoulders and lifted him up to look into the eyes of the snake-freak. (Orochimaru doesn't say his name until after he bites Sasuke, so Naruto is just going to call him snake-freak)

"Hey! Get off me!!"

Snake-freak started to make seals with his hands. "Heh heh... The brat of nine tails is alive and kicking!" Naruto tried to free himself by head-butting his captor. "How fascinating that, when he is consumed with rage, he loses himself..." Naruto tuned out the rest of the snake-freak's ramblings. _How is he able to talk with he tongue around my arms, anyway? Nevermind that! I got to get away! His fingertips are already glowing!_

Naruto called on a Kage Bushin just as the snake-freak pushed his hand against the seal. Pain consumed Naruto as the puff of smoke from the jutsu surrounded him. _Something is definitely not right!_ This was Naruto's last thought as everything went black.

To be continued

AN: This chapter was short, I know. My actual chapters are usually longer.... I'd like some feedback on how I'm doing with Naruto's character. He's surprisingly hard to write and I don't want him OOC just yet.


	2. Chapter 1

AN: Yay! I got reviews. I'm happy. I believe this will be the quickest you will get an update from me. I was literally writing this chapter through ALL of my classes today… I'm surprised I didn't get yelled at. Anyway… for the ones who mentioned the clone being Kyubi, I'd like to point out that I got the title from the quote and that the quote says "that of yourself which you yet know not of." Naruto knows about the Kyubi… but… because of those reviews, I did do something with the Kyubi. I wasn't planning on it. I'll rant more at the bottom about this…

The Glass

Chapter 1

By Bara-chan

* * *

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

William Shakespeare

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes slowly then stared at the branches above him as he tried to figure out what happened. Naruto frowned. Granted, Naruto's brain was normally slow, but today it seemed as though half of it was still asleep. If Sasuke were here… Sasuke! Naruto shot into a sitting position, looking around for his teammates, completely ignoring the thud that has been the result of the quick movement. 

"Fuck…" A voice murmured from next to Naruto.

Naruto's mind suddenly cleared and he turned to face his unknown companion only to come face to face with himself. "Who the hell are you!? And why do you look like me?!" Naruto yelled as he stood and pointed at the doppelganger.

The second Naruto just blinked a couple of times before looking away with a thoughtful frown.

Naturally, being ignored pissed Naruto off. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"I think that you are talking to yourself." The doppelganger spoke up quietly.

"What!?" Naruto stormed over to his companion and dragged him to his feet by his collar. "You calling me insane?"

The doppelganger forcefully extracted Naruto's hand. "No… I think that we are the same person."

Naruto was surprised into silence for a minute. "Wha? How…?"

"Don't you hear the echo? How when you speak, you can hear yourself seconds after?"

Naruto frowned, trying to think. "Sasuke is a bastard!" He said loudly and then looked surprised as he finally noticed the echo. "What IS that?"

The doppelganger smirked. "It seems as if we're hearing through each other's ears. When I speak to you, you'll hear it slightly after I say it. That echo must be me hearing what you're hearing…" He paused and shook his head. "You're confused, aren't you?"

Naruto jumped. "How'd you know?" He looked sheepish. "I was trying to hide it."

The other Naruto looked surprise, realizing that Naruto's face HADN'T shown any signs of confusion. "I guess I just knew. Hmm… do you feel anything… odd?"

"Odd like what?"

"Like feelings you're not supposed to be feeling. Thoughts you wouldn't normally have."

Naruto was silent for a minute. "Well… I have a sudden urge for udon." The doppelganger grinned triumphantly. "Hey! What's the grin for?"

"I sent you that thought as a test. We're two separate people but our minds are definitely connected."

Naruto tried to think about this but came up with nothing and just shrugged. "Okay… if you're right, then how did this happen? And what can we do to fix it?"

"Probably happened while fighting the snake dude. He placed a seal on you the minute you made a Kage Bushin. It must have sealed a bit of you into the bushin, creating me. Do you feel like you have a jutsu activated?"

"No… I feel like I normally do."

"Hmm… then I guess deactivating the jutsu is out as a solution."

Naruto jerked his head up and started to look around. "Wait a minute! Speaking of 'snake dude,' what happened to Sakura-chan and Sasuke!?" Naruto started off in a random direction. "Come on…" He stopped and turned to look at his clone. "Hey.. umm.. what are we going to call you? We can't call you Naruto… that would be too confusing."

The clone thought for a while before nodding. "Fuwa sounds right to me. I'll be Uzumaki Fuwa."

Naruto went back to Fuwa, grabbed his arm and started pulling him in the direction he was heading before. "Come on, Fuwa! Let's go find, Sakura-chan!"

Fuwa shrugged Naruto off of his arm and followed Naruto out of the area.

Shortly after the sun set, Fuwa convinced Naruto to stop. "We won't find them in the dark. Besides, aren't you getting hungry? You haven't eaten since this morning."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… I guess I'm a little hungry" The loud grumbling from his stomach proved that to be an understatement.

The two set up camp and found a rabbit to eat. They sat but the fire, waiting for the rabbit to cook.

Naruto started to stare at Fuwa, causing Fuwa to raise his eyebrow. "What?"

"If we're the same person, then why do we act so differently?" Naruto asked, suspiciously.

Fuwa paused. "Perhaps…. Well, maybe we split personalities?"

Naruto shook his head violently. "I don't feel any different… if we split, shouldn't I be missing something?"

Fuwa shrugged. "How should I know? I was just guessing. Maybe it has something to do with the Kyubi's seal? This is where snakey put his seal."

Naruto lifted up his shirt and looked down at the seal. "It doesn't look too weird to me… just those five spots."

Fuwa shook his head. "I meant that the five part seal might be reacting with the kyubi's seal differently."

Naruto just glared at Fuwa and shook his head. "Don't think so…"

A faint rustle was heard from outside the light of the fire. Naruto jumped up and pulled out a kunai. "Who's there?"

Fuwa jumped up too. "What is it? You heard something?"

Naruto looked at Fuwa as if he were stupid. "Yeah. Something moving. Didn't you hear it?"

A shake of the head was Naruto's only answer. Another rustle and movement in the trees brought Naruto's attention away from his companion. Just as Naruto was opening his mouth to speak again, a girl entered the clearing. She shielded her eyes from the light for a moment then looked at Naruto and Fuwa then back again. She sighed then shook her head, causing her long red braid to sway. "Damn.. today just isn't my day."

Fuwa stealthily slipped behind her and twisted her arms behind her back. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" He ordered in a stern voice.

Naruto, surprised by Fuwa's actions, stepped closer to them. "Hey…"

The girl cut off whatever he was going to say. "Yup… definitely not my day…The name's Tarim. I got lost and happened to stumble across you bozos. Why do you have your bushin active? I know there weren't two of you at the first exam. You get separated from your team too?"

Naruto nodded. "Hey, Fuwa. Let her go. I think she's telling the truth."

Fuwa glared. "What if she's not? This is an exam you know… she may be after a scroll."

Naruto shrugged. "But we don't have it, so she wouldn't have any business here anyway."

Fuwa paused then let her go. "Fine but if she kills you, I'm going to laugh."

Tarim stretched out her arms. "Good grip, kid. Anyway… what're you doing talking to yourself like that? You schizo or something?"

Fuwa just stared at her then returned to the fire. Naruto looked after him, puzzled. "o…kay?" He turned to Tarim. "Long story turned short, a jutsu gone bad created two of me."

Tarim nodded. "Okay… so you're Naruto and the asshole is… Fuwa?"

"I'm not an asshole, wench!" Fuwa shouted.

Naruto just laughed. "Stop it. She's no threat, so you don't have to treat her like one, Fuwa. Geez, I think I know how Sakura-chan feels now: always trying to stop me and Sasuke."

Fuwa grabbed Naruto and pulled him toward the fire. "Stay there." He ordered Tarim, who just rolled her eyes and leaned against a tree. "How do you know she's not a threat, Naruto? This is the stage of the exam that killing starts. Even if we don't have the scroll, she could just be here to kill us so our team doesn't pass this exam."

Naruto shook his head. "I just know, okay. It's a feeling I get. My feelings are rarely wrong, especially when they're this strong."

Fuwa stilled completely. "Like an instinct?"

Naruto looked confused. "I guess… why?"

Fuwa shook his head. "Nevermind. Alright… I'll accept her here… but she's gotta find her own food. That rabbit is just barely going to feed the two of us."

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Okay!" He bounced back over to Tarim, who had been watching them with some amusement. "Fuwa says you can stick around for a while."

Tarim glanced over at Fuwa. "How kind." She drawled as she followed Naruto back to the fire.

"You're from the leaf right? Are you a second year genin or older?" Fuwa interrogated.

Tarim eyed him suspiciously. "I'm 14, so you know, and a third year genin."

"Is this your first time taking the exam?"

"Second time." Tarim collapsed next to the fire. "You done yet, asshole? Want a blood sample?"

Fuwa looked like he wanted to attack her. "Is that a genuine offer?"

Naruto went over to Fuwa and pushed him down so that he was sitting on the opposite side of the fire. "Shut up and eat already. Can't you two get along? Make a truce or something!"

Fuwa and Tarim glared at each other. Fuwa nodded first then Tarim also agreed. "Fine. Truce. But I'm not going near the asshole, just in case."

"Asshole?!" Fuwa exclaimed before catching a look from Naruto. "Damnit. If I'm an asshole, she's a wench."

Tarim grinned. "Fine by me, asshole!"

Fuwa growled but didn't say anything. They ate and went to sleep without any more major arguments.

In the morning, the trio set out before dawn with Naruto guiding them. Just after sunrise, Naruto began to hear the sounds of battle coming from nearby. He led Fuwa and Tarim to the site just in time to see Sasuke wake up and start fighting the sound-nins. Naruto was about to jump in and help but Tarim held him back.

"Hey! Where are you going? Shouldn't you make sure the asshole is hiding first?"

"Huh?" Both Naruto and Fuwa were confused at this.

Tarim hit herself in the forehead. "Dummies. Don't you think that it's odd that there are two of you? If your friends find out, they'll tell the adults and the adults will probably take you out of the exam so that they can 'heal' you. Do you really wanna give up on this exam when you've come so far already?"

"So… what do we do then?" Naruto asked.

"The asshole hides while Naruto rejoins his team." Tarim turned to Fuwa. "You can be the gentleman and escort me to my team. I still haven't found them yet, obviously."

"The wench has a point…." Fuwa grudgingly agreed. "We probably shouldn't let them know about me…"

"Fine… but I have to go help them!" Naruto started to inch toward the clearing, eager to go.

**SNAP!**

The three turned to the loud noise and headed for it. They watched as Sakura clung to Sasuke's back. Tarim smiled a little and turned to Naruto. "Looks like we missed the fight."

"I'm going to go hide. I'll come out when you're ready to go, wench." Fuwa said before heading up into the trees.

"Wait! Who is Orochimaru?!! What did he do to Sasuke-kun?!!! Why to Sasuke-kun?!!!" Sakura yelled, stopping the sound-nin's retreat.

"That would be a curse seal, girlie." Tarim commented as she and Naruto exited the tree line. "And he's probably after those famous Uchiha eyes."

Sakura looked surprised and kind of happy. "What? Naruto!? You're alive?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "In a manner of speaking…."

Tarim smacked him. "Shut it, baka. Anyway…. That thing isn't really good for you… you should probably get it removed… if you can find someone who can, that is."

Naruto rubbed his head where Tarim hit him. "Ow… Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, you okay?"

Sasuke looked a little surprised at being included but huffed and turned away. "Dobe."

Tarim giggled and leaned over to whisper in Naruto's ear. "Hey! He's kinda like the asshole!"

Naruto pulled away and glared at Tarim. "HELL NO! NO WAY!"

Tarim started laughing hysterically. "Does Naru-chan have something to tell me?"

Naruto went to attack her. "Shut up! And don't call me Naru-chan!"

Tarim just laughed and got out of range. As she dodged another swing by Naruto, she bumped into Ino. "Oops! Sorry!" She noticed that Ino had a scary face on and moved away. "What?"

"What did you just say to him? You aren't trying to move in on my Sasuke-kun are you?" (AN: Haha evil fangirls)

"Ew… no no no! He's too much like that stupid asshole!" Tarim faked throwing up.

Naruto pulled Tarim away from Ino. "You probably shouldn't…"

Tarim laughed and moved away. "Shouldn't what? Call him a stupid asshole? Well, it's true! He is! A stupid, weakling asshole."

Naruto pushed her towards the clearing. "Why don't you go find your teammates?"

Tarim reluctantly left the clearing. At the edge, she turned and waved. "Bye bye!" She ran out of the clearing as fast as she could. When she was about 100 feet away, Fuwa appeared in front of her.

"A stupid, weakling asshole, huh?"

Tarim raised her hand to the back of her head. "Ehehehe…."

To be continued.

second year genin would be Neji, Lee, and TenTen's class. Tarim's from the class before hand. I'm explaining this because I just assumed that Naruto and crew have been genin for a year.

AN: I can rant again. About the my little trio here:

Naruto: Going to be basically the same. He's really hard to write so any inconsistencies are going to be blamed on the separation. Unless they're blaring and bordering on Sasuke-like, then I'll go back and fix it. The issue of Kyubi come up here. I'm putting Kyubi closer to the surface. Naruto is going to be a bit more animal like: good senses, instinct and all that. I already have Fuwa noticing this, if you noticed(that's the only reason he gave in so quickly)

Fuwa: ooo I'm not enjoying this character. I'm trying to make him a mix of all of the OOC Narutos that everyone seems to like writing about. The sad, depressed, and basically Sasuke-like Naruto. I'd like to note that he is smart, basically calm, and intelligent for a reason, which I don't feel like saying right now. .

Tarim: I LOVE THIS CHARACTER!!! I stole her from a webcomic I'm working on right now.(Yes it's mine, so no copyright infringement done and I don't have to put her in the disclaimer) She's so much fun to draw. Ahem… yeah… I put her in as the third in the 'team.' I've always liked the idea of Naruto in a different team, so I created one for him. . also, she is to Fuwa as Sasuke is to Naruto. They'll be a bit friendlier though. She came into this story because without her, Fuwa would be alone all of the time, unless he was Naruto… and that's not good for character development now is it? One thing I haven't really gotten to is that she's a medic-nin and specializes in kenjutsu. She's inept at middle to higher levels of ninjutsu, all genjutsu, and higher levels of taijutsu. (No mary sue here I hope)


	3. Chapter 2

AN: I'm back... this chapter didn't take as long as I thought it would. The story is... about an hour after I post chapter 1, I found out that my grandfather had died. Because of this, I knew I wasn't going to write because 1)I was spending time with my family and 2) I was really really depressed and I didn't want that to influence my writing. I had a lot of chapter 2 written before I found out about my grandfather and the rest I did during my break at school today. Speaking of school, chapter 3 will not appear for a while unless I REALLY need a break from studying. I have finals this week and next week and I have not done a thing on them yet, so that will take up a lot of my time.

Oh yeah... I don't think I put a disclaimer on the prologue or chapter one so.. yeah... I don't own anything but Fuwa and Tarim.

The Glass

Chapter 2

* * *

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

****William Shakespeare

* * *

Naruto snickered as he watched Tarim leave. _Fuwa is going to hurt her..._

_Damn right I am! That wench is going to get it!_

Naruto jumped, to the surprise of all of the others in the clearing with him. _Hey! How can I hear you?_

Fuwa gave an exasperated sigh. _I told you before – our minds are linked. Just send your thoughts to me and I'll get them._

"Where have you been all this time?" Sakura asked, approaching Naruto.

"I was unconscious for a while, then I went looking for you guys." Naruto explained with a grin.

"Figures, you miss out on the entire battle. You didn't run away did you?" Ino asked skeptically.

"Hey! I would never let Sakura-chan be in danger if I could help it!" Naruto protested.

Sakura punched him. "Don't say stuff like that!"

Naruto picked himself off of the ground.

_That had to hurt..._

_Shut up, Fuwa._

_Heh heh... The wench is back to her team. They weren't too far away._

_Good... At least you didn't kill her._

_I should have..._

"..., Sasuke-kun!" Ino was waving to Sasuke as she, Shikamaru, and Choju walked away into the forest.

"Huh? Everybody's leaving?" Naruto tilted his head, confused.

"Where have you been, idiot? They said they were leaving a couple of minutes ago." Sakura glared.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Guess I wasn't paying attention..."

Sasuke snorted. "Hn... You're getting stupider, dumbass."

Naruto stepped towards Sasuke. "What did you say, bastard!?"

Sasuke turned his back to Naruto and started to leave. "Let's go..."

"Right!" Sakura ran to catch up with Sasuke.

Naruto followed behind, muttering choice words under his breath.

"This is the fourth afternoon since the start of the second test..." Sasuke muttered as Team 7 waited around a fire. "The second test started around 2:30PM... meaning we only have about 25-26 hours left."

"Many teams may have already passed... that means..." Sakura looked towards the fire with a thoughtful expression.

_Ahhh!!! I wish it would cook faster!!!_ Naruto thought as he drooled over the cooking fish.

_Naruto! Pay attention to your teammates! This is important!_ Fuwa interrupted.

_What!!? But I'm hungry!_ Naruto whined.

_So what if you're hungry! Don't you want to pass this exam and become a chunnin?!_

"You know... there may not be anymore heaven scrolls." Sakura turned her gaze to the earth scroll laying on a rock.

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

"Eighty percent of the test is over with... only 13 teams can pass... 12 now because that Orochimaru guy burned our heaven scroll..." Sakura drifted off into thought.

_Orochimaru?_ Naruto asked Fuwa. _Is he that snake guy?_

_How would I know?_ Fuwa responded, patiently. _I'm you, remember? I don't know any more than you do... sadly._

_Hey!_

"Either way... the next enemy is our last chance!!" Sasuke declared as he stood up. "I'm going to get some water."

_We're screwed, aren't we?_ Naruto commented, beginning to get depressed.

_Not necessarily..._Fuwa stopped the link for a little while. _Hmm... I could probably scout around and find a heaven scroll._

_Wouldn't that be cheating?_ Naruto picked his head up and looked in the direction he thought Fuwa was in.

"Naruto?" Sakura caught the movement and was curious.

_You're a ninja, Naruto... Sometimes, the rules have to be broken to get the job done... and besides, technically, I am a part of you, so it would be like you going out and scouting._

Naruto waved his hand at Sakura. "It was nothing... just a bird."

"Funny... I don't think I've ever seen a bird in this forest..." A voice spoke up from behind Naruto.

Sakura and Naruto turned to see Kabuto strolling up to them. "Kabuto-san!" Sakura exclaimed, standing up. "What're you doing here?"

Sasuke came rushing back as he heard the commotion. "An enemy?" He stopped as he reached the fire and saw that it was Kabuto. "You're Kabuto, aren't you? What are you doing all alone out here?"

_Geez... so suspicious..._ Naruto thought to himself.

_It's actually a good thing in this situation... don't make it sound bad._ Fuwa commented dryly.

"It's not like I'm after your scroll..." Kabuto gave Sasuke an even look.

_Is that what Sasuke meant? Geez... maybe Tarim's right! You are like the bastard. Though you're cooler because you're a part of me._

_I'm not going to comment on that... and don't trust anything that stupid wench says anyway._

"So you're after the heaven scroll?"

Kabuto pulled out both the heaven scroll and the earth scroll. "No... I already have both... I'm on my way to meet my teammates at the tower."

Naruto sniffed lightly at the air. _Hm?_

_What is it?_ Fuwa asked, interested.

_Kabuto smells weird...Hey!_ Naruto jumped to his feet and moved closer to Kabuto, sniffing discreetly. _He... he smells like that snake freak... what's his name...? Orochimaru!_

"Fight me..." Sasuke demanded.

"Fight...?" Kabuto questioned, startled.

"We're running out of time... we need that scroll." Sasuke explained.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Don't...." Naruto said in a serious voice, catching the attention of his teammates.

"Naruto?" Sakura was confused at the sudden change.

"Shut up, dobe..." Sasuke glared at Naruto before turning his attention back to Kabuto.

Kabuto caught Naruto's glare and was confused. "Hm... Sasuke wouldn't fight me anyway... if he really meant it, he wouldn't have challenged me. He would have just attacked. But I wonder... Why are you so opposed, Naruto?"

Naruto paused, then nodded. "You smell of snake... like Orochimaru."

Fuwa groaned. _Damn Naruto... if he is with snakey, telling him you know wasn't the smartest thing to do..._

Sakura and Sasuke started. "!!" Only Naruto caught the cold look that quickly passed through Kabuto's eyes.

"What are you talking about, you idiot?" Sakura stormed over to where Naruto was and was about to hit him, but Naruto ducked out of the way.

Kabuto tried to laugh it off. "What do you mean, Naruto? I fought a snake earlier. That doesn't make me in league with that man..."

_Huh?_ Fuwa opened the link more.

_What is it?_ Naruto thought at Fuwa. "You smell just like him... I fought a snake too but the scent wasn't that strong."

_He speaks as if he knows what happened... and he didn't actually deny anything... he just said you didn't have proof._

This time, Sakura was able to get a hit. "Moron! You're imagining things again! Kabuto-san isn't with that creep!"

Naruto just glared at Kabuto and kept his distance. Kabuto gave Naruto an indecipherable look before grinning. "We should probably head out..."

_Fuwa?_

"You're going to come with us, Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked.

_Umm... right! There is a team of mist-nins to the north-east, towards the tower. They have the heaven scroll!_

"Yes... You should head towards the tower. You're more likely to find a team with the scroll you need there. And I have to go that way anyway." Kabuto explained, but gave a look to Naruto.

_Hn... probably just wants to keep an eye on me..._

_Your damn fault for letting him know you were on to him._ Fuwa remarked.

_Whatever..._ Naruto just nodded at Kabuto before heading towards the tower. "Let's go then! We have a test to pass!"

Sasuke, Sakura, and Kabuto all shook their heads and followed.

To be continued

AN: Because I am closely following the manga at this time, some of the dialogue is taken from the manga... I'm at about chapter 60 now.

I consider this a boring chapter... mostly because it was so tedious to write. Until I can get Fuwa into a disguise or get Naruto away from his team, I am going to follow Kishimoto's storyline. So... yeah... the next chapter should finish up the second exam and then I'll probably take some liberties on the prelims and then during the break, I'll really start to change things...


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Well… I won't make any excuses for my rather long absence. It was unintentional but I still feel bad… that's why I wrote this entire chapter in one day .

The Glass

Chapter 3

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

William Shakespeare

"We've been walking forever!!" Naruto whined.

"Tired already, dobe?" Sasuke sneered.

"No, asshole! I'm just bored!" Naruto glared at Sasuke.

_Huh? Fuwa?_ Naruto questioned.

_What is it?_ Fuwa had an audible smile.

_Why are you trailing us? I can smell you…_ Naruto wrinkled his nose and grimaced.

_Heh heh… I wondered when you would notice. I'm going to stay stationary now… I want to test if this is a genjutsu._

_How would standing still help?_ Naruto asked, confused.

Fuwa sighed. _If you are walking in circles, you'll come across me again. If you do, just pretend I'm a bushin and 'dispel' me._

_Right!_ Naruto grinned and picked up the pace.

"Hey! Naruto! Slow it down!" Sakura yelled at him. "Not everyone has your stamina!"

Naruto pouted. "But Sakura-chan…"

Kabuto cut him off. "She's right. You shouldn't tire yourselves out…"

Naruto crossed his arms and moped. After a couple of minutes of walking, the group came across a familiar face.

Fuwa, who had been sitting under a tree, stood and moved to the center of the road. "Yo!" Fuwa grinned widely.

Naruto frowned. " So we are going circles…" Naruto put his hands into the dispel seal and Fuwa disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura looked from Naruto to where Fuwa had bee and back. "Genjutsu? But…"

Sasuku glared at Naruto. "Dobe… How did you find out?"

Naruto grinned smugly. "You mean you didn't, Sasuke-kun?" _Hey! Fuwa!_

_What?_ Fuwa sounded distracted.

Sasuke glared harder before looking around for the enemy. "The genjutsu is useless once figured out. Come out and fight."

_Are these the guys with the heaven scroll? The ones that you were talking about before?_

_Yeah…hmm.. they seem to be activating a jutsu…_

Dozens of mist-nins appeared from the trees. "Bushin no jutsu?" Sakura questioned, glancing at Kabuto.

Kabuto nodded. "Must be… They are probably trying to tire us out. First, the walking in circles and now fighting clones until we find the real bodies."

_Are they here?_ Naruto asked while rushing forward to attack.

_Hmm… no. They're in the trees._

Naruto activated his Kage Bushins to fight the clones as he headed off to where Fuwa was.

"Naruto! You can't fight them all!" Sakura yelled.

"What? Should we not fight and be beaten?" A Naruto yelled back at her.

Sasuke activated his sharingan to try and locate the real mist-nins. "What?" Sasuke's eyes widened.

Sakura looked over, worried. "Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke glanced at her. "They are all clones. No mistnins… or Naruto." Sasuke pitched forward and fell to his knees as the curse seal overwhelmed him.

Kabuto studied the seal as Sakura rushed over to Sasuke to help him. "That's the real thing…" He murmured to himself then looked around for Naruto. He didn't have to look long before Naruto came up behind them.

"Hey!" Naruto quietly tried to get their attention. Then he noticed Sasuke. "What happened?"

Sasuke straightened himself and shrugged off Sakura. "Nothing. Where were you?"

Naruto grinned and placed his arms behing his head. "Finding the enemy."

Sakura looked over to where the clones were fighting. "How…?"

Naruto was confused. "How what?"

Sakura glared at his stupidity. "How did you know? Even I thought that the enemy was in there somewhere…"

Naruto fidgeted nervously. "Umm…"

_Just change the subject… Anyway, if you four just stand there, the enemy is going to get suspicious._ Fuwa interjected.

Naruto forced a grin to his face, though he still looked nervous. "Umm…We should probably attack while we still have the element of surprise, right?"

Sakura hesitated. "But… Wait! You actually found them?!"

"Duh… I would still be looking if I hadn't. And quiet down. They'll move if they find out that we know where they are." Naruto hurried to shut Sakura up.

Sasuke glared then attacked Naruto. "You can't be the dobe. He'd never be this helpful in battle…"

Naruto just barely dodged the punch. "What the hell?! You're just pissed that I'm getting better than you!"

_You do realize that is a complete lie. If we hadn't separated, you wouldn't have known anything either… And I bet you would have gotten your ass handed to you._

_Shut up, Fuwa._ Naruto frowned as he felt Fuwa's pleased grin through their connection.

Sakura jumped then got into a defensive position. "Sasuke-kun's right… How do we know you're not an enemy?"

Fuwa snickered. _Wow… She's agreeing with Sasuke… What a change.. You know, this girl is almost as annoying as the wench… almost._

_Hey! Don't insult Sakura-chan! And how do I get out of this?_

_I don't know… figure it out yourself._

Distracted by his conversation with Fuwa, Naruto was unable to block a punch from Sasuke and was sent flying. Naruto slowly picked himself off of the ground. "Damn… You just enjoy beating me up, don't you?"

"Umm…" Kabuto stepped in between Sasuke and Naruto. "This is actually Naruto…"

Sakura drifted towards them. "Really? How can you tell?"

Kabuto looked over at Sakura. His chakra signature is right. No one can duplicate a chakra that… unique." Kabuto turned to Naruto with a knowing grin.

"Unique?" Sasuke curiosity was peeked.

"Okay! I'm me, alright! Can we attack now?" Naruto shifted anxiously.

_You know… your team really sucks…_

_Huh?_ Naruto jumped onto a branch as Sasuke, Sakura, and Kabuto nodded their agreement. "Alright! Let's go!"

_There is no trust and no focus. Instead of worrying about the enemy, they were more concerned about how you were actually helpful. If the enemy wasn't fooled by those clones of your team that we put up, all of you would be dead right now._

Naruto frowned but didn't answer. He led his team to where the enemy was. On the way, Sakura spotted a clone of Sasuke and herself fighting. "Naruto? Are those clones of us?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah…" He trailed off as he felt Fuwa approach.

_Fuwa?_

_What?_ Fuwa sounded distracted and somewhat annoyed.

_What are you doing?_

_Do I have to report everything? Geez… If you must know, I'm trying to figure out which one has the scroll._

_Oh…_ Naruto stopped and pointed towards the real mist-nins. "Over there."

"Now what?" Sakura asked, looking at each of the boys in turn.

Sasuke and Kabuto looked at Naruto as he grinned. "We beat them up!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Dumbass… She means how are we going to attack."

Naruto gave a blank stare. "Why don't we just attack…" Without waiting for an answer, he created a couple more bushins and charged forward.

"You must be right about him, Kabuto. Only Naruto is that stupid." Sakura sighed before following Sasuke after their teammate.

Even with Naruto's blind charge, they were able to knock out two of the mist-nins without any problem. The third put up a fight but eventually the four on one odds got the best of him. Sasuke searched the bodies for the scroll and found it on the third one. "Heh… the heaven scroll…"

Sakura jumped and clapped. "Now all we have to do is get to the tower before nightfall!"

Naruto grinned but didn't say anything as they moved out.

_Hey, Fuwa?_

_What?_

_Am I really acting strange?_

_Hm? What do you mean?_

_Kabuto was the only one that didn't say I was acting weird. Even you said it…_

_I was just making a point. Anyway, to them you're acting strange because you're supposedly being observant and thoughtful for once. Since those observations actually came from me, I'd say that you are not acting much different than you normally do. _

Naruto gave a quiet sigh. _Good… I was worried that something had happened._

_Idiot… It should have been obvious to you. It's not like you don't know your own feelings._

_Hey! Don't call me an idiot!_

_Sure thing… moron._

_DAMNIT!!_

To Be Continued…

AN: Damn this was a hard chapter to write… and I'm not entirely sure I pulled it off… Damn battle scenes… why are they so hard to write!? Anyway.. I'm not going to rewrite the scene with Iruka or the prelims like I said I would. They're going to happen the same exact way it happened in the manga. I can't wait to write the next chapter… I can finally bring back Tarim. She's fun to write I and I don't feel guilty running the explanations or plot points through her… ok… note: The reason Kabuto didn't really show up is because I HATE him and 1) didn't want to write him and 2) I didn't want to SOUND like I hate him


	5. Chapter 4

AN: This is what happens when I have two hour breaks in between classes… I fall into my fanfiction notebook and am able to update within a week

The Glass

Chapter 4

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

William Shakespeare

"Hiya, asshole!" Tarim greeted Fuwa as he waited outside for the preliminaries to end. "Whatcha doing?"

"None of your business, wench…" Fuwa turned away and started to ignore her.

"Damn, you're a bitch today. So… what's with the cloak?" When she didn't get any answer, Tarim started to poke his shoulder. "Hey… you alive in there?"

"Yes, now go away." Fuwa ordered dully.

"I love you, too." Tarim replied and sat down next to Fuwa, who remained standing. "Okay… so if you won't tell me what you're doing, will you tell me why you're here?"

"I'm waiting for Naruto. Now will you shut up. I'm trying to concentrate." Fuwa glared down at her before closing his eyes.

"Oh!" Tarim started. "Oops… sorry." She shut her mouth and started to look around. It wasn't long before she started fidgeting but she didn't leave.

Tarim stood up and was about to speak when the door to the arena opened up. She waited until Naruto came out with some of the other rookies before running over and started chattering.

"Naruto!! I'm glad you made it! Did they have some sort of fight in there? I saw medic-nins. Did you make it to the finals? Why aren't you talking? Are you ignoring me too?" Tarim was cut off by Naruto putting his hand over her mouth.

"Damn! Did someone give you sugar or something?" Naruto laughed, removing his hand.

"No! It's just that the asshole has been keeping me silent for a half an hour already! I'm bored!" Tarim whined, getting a pissed off look on her face.

Fuwa scowled. "You could have left, wench. I would have enjoyed the peace."

Tarim looked ready to punch him. "What…?"

Naruto cut her off. "Hey! Enough!"

"Naruto?" Sakura piped up. She and the other rookies had stayed to watch the exchange. "Who are these people?"

Naruto looked confused. "Friends of mine. Why?"

Tarim put a hand to her temple and shook her head. "I think she wants an introduction, dumbass."

Naruto swiped at her. "Damnit! Stop calling me dumbass, idiot, or anything else that means stupid! Bastards!"

Tarim moved out of range and looked to Fuwa. "Hey! This is because of you, isn't it? Were you harassing Naruto again?"

"What!? Why is it my fault?" Fuwa exclaimed indignantly.

Tarim rolled her eyes. "Because you're a bastard and that would make sense."

"Stupid bitch…" Fuwa moved to attack her, but Naruto pulled him back before he could get to her.

"Uh… Sakura-chan… Why don't you meet them when they're nowhere near each other… they're more pleasant." Naruto used his free hand to scratch the back of his head. Without waiting for an acknowledgement, Naruto pulled Fuwa away leaving Tarim to follow happily.

"Why is the wench still following us?" Fuwa growled.

"Because I want to. Got a problem with that?" Tarim chirped.

"Tarim, why do you go out of your way to piss off Fuwa?" Naruto cut in before they could fight again.

Tarim shrugged. "It's just fun, I guess. Anyway… where are you guys going?"

"Home."

"Do you have a disguise for the asshole there?" Tarim gave a knowing smirk.

"Huh? A disguise?" Naruto stopped and looked back and forth between Fuwa and Tarim.

"Yeah… Having two Narutos around is kind of suspicious. Shouldn't he, you know, hide. At least get rid of the scars."

Fuwa sulked. "Hate to say it… but the wench is right."

"But there isn't anything at home." Naruto pointed out.

Tarim grinned. "Then let's go shopping."

Both Naruto and Fuwa shied away from the eerie glint in the female's eyes.

Naruto and Fuwa escaped with only an hour of shopping. Tarim and Naruto were seated under a tree while waiting for Fuwa to change into his new clothes.

"Damn," Naruto sighed. "Are all girls so insane about shopping?"

Tarim thought for a minute then smile. "Yeah… I think so."

Naruto shook his head. "Anyway… how come you weren't at the preliminaries?"

Tarim glowered. "Didn't make it… the two numbskulls that call themselves my teammates decided to open the scroll while I was away."

Naruto cringed. "Ow…"

Tarim shrugged. "The bastards got what they deserved. Morons… speaking of which," she raised her voice, "How long does it take to get dressed, anyway? You suffocating yourself with a shirt in there or something?"

"Shut up…" Fuwa walked out of the trees looking slightly uncomfortable. He was wearing a high collar, zip-up red shirt, which easily covered up his whisker marks, and a simple pair of black pants.

Tarim jumped to her feet and circled around Fuwa. "It's ok, I guess…" She stopped in front of him but continued scrutinizing him. Fuwa raised an eyebrow causing Tarim to grin. "I got it!" She untied Fuwa's forehead protector and rearranged the cloth so that the metal remained around the forehead, but Fuwa's hair was covered. (Like how Ibiki has his) "There! Spiky blond hair tends to be really noticeable."

Naruto snickered. Fuwa didn't show it too much, but he had started to panic once Tarim got close to him. _See something you like, Fuwa?_ Naruto singsonged.

Fuwa stiffened then glared at Naruto, causing Tarim to look between the two of them in confusion. _Get bent._

Naruto laughed out loud but changed the subject. "Hey! I gotta find Kakashi-sensei. I need to get him to train me. Where would he be…?"

"Probably at the hospital." Fuwa commented, still sounding peeved.

"How do you know?" Tarim tilted her head towards Fuwa.

"There was a fight there earlier. Sasuke's chakra signature was near the area so I would be checking on him." Fuwa glared at Tarim. "I'd know for sure if someone hadn't distracted me when I was concentrating."

"So that's what you were doing… Hey! Don't blame it on me! I was perfectly quiet after a while. Stupid asshole, making it my fault." Tarim pouted slightly.

"It's your fault because you're a wench and that would make sense." Fuwa gave a mischievous smile as he threw her words back at her.

"DAMNIT!" Tarim punched Fuwa in the face, starting a minor scuffle.

Naruto just shook his head at them and started to head towards the hospital. "Bye, guys."

Fuwa stopped, just barely stopping Tarim's knee before it connected with his groin. "Hey! Don't leave me with her!" Fuwa released the girl and hurried after Naruto.

"Hn…." Tarim glowered and calmly walked after the boys. Then a thought hit her and she grin. "Heh heh… I win."

Naruto ran into the hospital. "Hey! Where's Sasuke's room?"

The woman behind the desk jumped in surprise. "He's not accepting visitors today."

Naruto moped. "But…"

"Naruto, quiet down. This is a hospital." Kakashi strolled into the lobby.

"Kakashi-sensei! I have a request!" Naruto started but was cut off.

"I know what you're gong to ask but I have some things I have to take care of."

Naruto crossed his arms. "You're going to teach Sasuke, aren't you?"

Kakashi looked guilty but was about to protest when Fuwa and Tarim wandered in.

"He's useless. Shouldn't a teacher be promoting teamwork instead of breaking a team apart?" Fuwa said cuttingly, giving Kakashi a disappointed look.

Tarim frowned. "What's this? He won't train you? That's so stupid: a teacher who won't teach. Hey, Naruto! Forget him and train with me!" Tarim grinned and pointed to herself.

Fuwa gave her a skeptical look. "What can he learn from you? You didn't even make it to the preliminaries."

Tarim hit Fuwa upside the head. "Shut it, asshole. That was my teammates fault. And besides… my specialty is kind of unique, so I'm fairly certain that you two don't know it already. Also… I'm dying for a skill on skill match… the only other person I know that fights like I do is a jounin and I'm so outclassed."

Naruto gave Kakashi a long look then reluctantly walked over to the pair. "Alright… See ya, Kakashi-sensei."

The trio left the hospital, leaving a rather stunned Kakashi behind. "They didn't even let me say anything… I guess I have to dismiss Ebisu…"

Outside, Tarim was patting Naruto on the back. "Poor Naruto-kun. You have a sucky teacher."

"Hm…" Naruto grumbled before changing the subject. "So what are you going to teach us?"

Tarim smiled proudly. "Kenjutsu and medicinal jutsus."

Fuwa looked surprised. "Kenjutsu? I didn't think anyone used that skill anymore."

Tarim gave him a dull look. "Yeah? Well I do."

Naruto looked back and forth between the two. "Kenjutsu? What's that?"

Tarim blinked. "You don't know? It's fighting with a sword. It's a bit more complicated then taijutsu."

"Alright! Let's start!" Naruto was pumped.

Tarim held up a hand. "Wait! I'm not training you until we clean up. I don't know about you two but five days in the forest without a decent bath makes me feel nasty. Besides… the public baths are on the way to my house." She grabbed an arm from each of the boys and dragged them to the bathhouse.

"But I want to train." Naruto whined.

Tarim frowned. "Geez.. if you want to train, try walking on water or something. Just make sure you get clean too. " With that she walked off for the women's side of the bath.

"Walking on water?" Naruto turned to Fuwa, who shrugged.

"I don't know…Maybe it's like walking up a tree?" Fuwa started forward. "Might as well get clean while we think of a solution."

The boys headed towards the hot springs. Once they entered, they quickly cleaned up and then started to train. By acting like it was tree walking and modifying the skill as needed, the boys didn't take long to figure out how to walk on water. They were about to head outside to wait for Tarim, when they heard a loud crash coming from the wall of the hot springs followed by female screaming. Naruto had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit as a large white-haired man flew past him. Fuwa looked to the wall, which now sported a rather large whole in it, to see an extremely pissed of Tarim wrapped in a towel.

"PERVERT! How dare you spy on women when they're bathing?!" Tarim stomped forward then noticed Naruto and Fuwa and blushed, pulling the towel tighter. "Uh… hi guys."

The pervert picked himself off of the ground. "Damn…. She almost hits as hard as Tsunade…" He mumbled under his breath. He composed himself and grinned at Tarim. "I am the legendary sennin, Jiraiya! I was only doing research for my book. Say! Would you be willing to pose for me?"

Tarim's eye started to twitch. "What…?"

Fuwa cut her off. "Sennin, huh?" He got an evil grin. "Hey, old man. How about a deal?"

Tarim's eyes widened. "WHAT!!??"

Jiraiya looked interested. "What kind of deal?"

Fuwa grinned. "Teach the three of us and Naruto and I will keep Tarim from killing you."

Jiraiya got angry. "Eh?! What kind of deal is that!?"

Tarim got a homicidal glint in her eyes. "A smart one."

Fuwa sidled over to Jiraiya and whispered in his ear. "If you train her, you might get some inspiration even if she isn't naked. And if not…." He turned to Naruto. _Hey Naruto… Do your sexy no jutsu._

_Why? _

_Just do it._

Jiraiya's eyes bugged out as Naruto turned into a naked woman then grinned and looked at each of them in turn. "Fine. As of now, you three are my new students."

Tarim glowered. "Just wait until I'm decently dressed…. I'm going to hurt you all…. AND DAMNIT, NARUTO, DON'T EVER DO THAT JUTSU AGAIN!!!"

To be continued…

AN: I'd like to note that I really don't hate Kakashi… it's just that his actions at this point of the story were inappropriate and I played the reactions as I thought they normally would turn out. Both of the boys were disappointed, though Fuwa showed it more… for more reasons than just than one might think(hint hint) and Tarim was disgusted because she sees Kakashi as inept.

About how quickly Naruto and Fuwa got the water walking thing. I'm going to say that the seal that Orochimaru put on Naruto ended up on Fuwa and therefore, does not matter. The fox is only in Naruto. However, the connection between the boys allows Naruto to heal Fuwa without the use of a jutsu. Yes, this means that Fuwa is a normal human with fairly normal chakra limitations. They were quick on learning the water walking because once the seal was gone, Naruto picked up the skill almost instantly, if I remember correctly.

Oh yes.. I keep forgetting to mention this. I didn't just make up Fuwa's name. I got it off of a character from Kagerou: Nostalgia. It wasn't the character itself that made me choose the name (though when I think of it, there's a bit of a resemblance physically) it was the fact that it means "unbreakable" which I found appropriate for an offshoot of Naruto.

Ah yes… I added a little Fuwa/Tarim. I still haven't decided on any pairings but since those two remind me of Naruto and Sasuke and I love SasuNaru, I added a little in. I can't write romance though, so any pairings will only be hinted at, if I put any more in at all…


	6. Chapter 5

AN: Arg…. I'm dissatisfied with my style of writing but I really do want to finish this… even though I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this right now…. I might be a little slow, especially now that I find it really hard to find time to type. So I'm sorry in advance for any delay in updates or any decline in the quality of my work that may appear.

I don't own Naruto, yada yada

Oh yeah… a line of "" is a scene change.

The Glass

Chapter 5

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

William Shakespeare

Naruto was woken up courtesy of an ice cold bucket of water. He jerked awake and glared at his counterpart. "Damnit, Fuwa! What the hell was that for!"

Fuwa grinned. "You wouldn't wake up. I had to take drastic measures… Plus, it was fun."

"Bastard…" Naruto got out of bed and searched for some dry clothing. "Why are you waking my up, anyway? Ero-sennin said we would start training tomorrow."

Fuwa crossed his arms across his chest and watched Naruto's search. "We have some research to do… Don't you ever clean? This place is a mess. You can't even find clean clothes."

"Shut up… I don't care about that. And what's this about research?" Naruto paused, looking at Fuwa.

"Aren't you curious about how you can be split into two different people? It should be impossible." Fuwa raised an eyebrow and looked at Naruto expectantly.

Naruto gave a triumphant laugh as he found some pants. "How are we going to find out something like that?"

Fuwa, getting impatient, started to help Naruto in finding a shirt. "We go to the library. We'll try to find anything about Kyubi and any seals that are like the one that the Yondaime used and the one Orochimaru put on you." Fuwa grabbed a shirt off of the floor and sniffed it cautiously. Finding it clean, he tossed it at Naruto. "Here. First things first… we're cleaning this apartment." Seeing that Naruto was about to protest, he continued. "Whether you like it or not."

"Yes, mother." Naruto grumbled as he headed to the bathroom to get dressed.

"Stop complaining! We'll use clones and be out of here in no time."

"Oh, yeah! Clones! Never thought of that…"

"You wouldn't have…"

"Hey!"

Naruto slammed the book down on the table, ignoring the glares of the other library patrons. "Damnit!"

Fuwa glanced up from his reading. "Calm down and shut up. What's wrong?"

Naruto looked confused. "You can usually tell what I'm thinking. Why not now?"

"I wasn't trying. I can only look into your head when I want to look. That's why you haven't gone into mine: You haven't tried. This situation does work both ways, you know." Fuwa explained before returning to his book.

"Oh! I never thought of that!" Naruto exclaimed, again receiving glares.

_Why don't we just talk like this? We might be thrown out if you make anymore outbursts._ Fuwa glanced up to see Naruto nod. _Anyway… why are you pissed?_

_I can't find anything in these shitty books!_ Naruto pushed the book away from him roughly. _They all say the same thing: Thirteen years ago, Kyubi attacked Konoha, killed a lot of people and then was killed by the Yondaime. There's nothing about the fight or anything about the seal._

Fuwa sighed and leaned back in his chair. _I'm not having much luck here, either. Maybe if we look at some older books, there'll be something._

_How will older books help?_

_Ever notice that history lessons just skim over the facts? Maybe we'll find a book from just after the attack that will give more information._

_Uh… yeah… okay_. Naruto agreed without really understanding.

Fuwa gave Naruto an exasperated look but only shook his head as he stood up. "Come on. Let's just find some older books."

_Fucking hell! This has got to be censorship! _Fuwa was pissed off. Very pissed off. He hurled a book at the wall but Naruto caught it before it hit.

_Now who needs to calm down?_ Naruto put the book back in its spot on the shelf then grinned at Fuwa. _You're lucky this area is deserted or you would have gotten in big trouble for that…._

"We've looked through every book we could get our hands on but we can't find any information!" Fuwa growled, clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to calm down. "Doesn't that piss you off? Why are you smiling?"

Naruto's grin widened. "Because seeing you freak out is funny. We usually act so different, it's funny to see you reacting like I would."

"Naruto?" Both Naruto and Fuwa froze as they heard a familiar voice. They slowly turned to see Sakura walking towards them with a book in her hand. "I thought I heard your voice."

Naruto grinned, looking slightly nervous. "Umm… hi, Sakura-chan."

Sakura was about to respond when her attention was drawn to Fuwa, who had moved to make sure that his face was covered. "Oh! You're that boy from yesterday, aren't you?"

Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "How can you tell? He's all covered up and isn't even wearing the same clothes."

Sakura looked smug. "Well, yesterday I noticed that you two had the same eye color. That shade of blue is kind of rare, so I just assumed it was him."

_She's observant._ Fuwa commented, cautiously.

_I think it goes with being smart. She's good a both._ Naruto started. "Oh! I didn't introduce you, did I? Sakura-chan, this is Fuwa. Fuwa, this is Sakura-chan. So… what are you doing here?"

Sakura blinked at the sudden change of topic. "Well… I ran out of books at home, so I came to get some more."

"A scholar?" Fuwa asked in a low tone, helping to disguise his voice.

"Not really." Sakura shrugged. "I like learning, so it's more of a pastime."

_Her form of fun is… learning?_ Naruto questioned dryly.

_Are you sure you like her? She doesn't sound like fun to me?_ Fuwa gave a quick glance at Naruto.

"Sakura-chan, do you know anything about seals?" Naruto asked.

Sakura got suspicious. "No… why? Are you planning something?"

Naruto held up his hands defensively. "No! No! Nothing planned! I just saw one somewhere and I wanted to know what it does." Naruto turned to Fuwa and started whining. "Let's give up! We can't find anything and I'm really hungry. I want to go to Ichiraku."

"Fine. We can probably get some training in before sundown, too." Fuwa agreed.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, then he dragged Fuwa out of the library. "Bye, Sakura-chan!"

"Tarim!" Naruto greeted as he and Fuwa reported for training. "Where is Ero-sennin?"

Tarim rolled her eyes. "Who know? Damn pervert. Probably peeking at women." Tarim suggested with a slight grin.

"Why are you so happy, wench?" Fuwa kept his distance just in case whatever she had planned was for him.

"Nothing…" Tarim shrugged. "Just a little… security for the women's bath.

Naruto and Fuwa shared a look but didn't say anything. Fifteen minutes later, Jiraiya walked dejectedly up to his new students with tears streaming down his face.

"What's wrong, Jiraiya-sensei?" Tarim asked, kindly.

"Someone posted pictures of wrinkly, naked old men over every good peep hole into the woman's bath."

Tarim had to beat down a grin but eventually managed to make a straight face. "Hn… serves you right, pervert."

"Oi! Ero-sennin! What are you gonna teach us?" Naruto started to bounce around Jiraiya.

"Nothing." Jiraiya said, holding Naruto in one place with a hand on his head.

"What! What about our deal!" Fuwa protested while Tarim grinned at the prospect of being able to maim Jiraiya.

"Do I get to kill him?" Tarim's eyes glinted evilly.

Jiraiya backed away from Tarim with a nervous laugh. "Ehehehe… nothing TODAY! I need to see what you've got, so you will be sparring." Jiraiya gestured at the clearing. "You're to stay within the clearing. You can team up if you want, but I'm not assessing that, since you really aren't a team." Jiraiya settled on the branch of a tree. "Start!"

_Should we team up against the wench?_ Fuwa asked as the three looked at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.

_Fine… I don't really wanna fight myself anyway._ Naruto activated his Kage Bunshin and made four clones, which charged at Tarim with their kunai drawn.

Tarim smirked and unsheathed the sword strapped to her waist. She made a swift side slash that killed one of the clones and caused the other three and Naruto to break formation.

One clone got behind her, while the other two charged from the sides and Naruto came from the front.

Tarim waited until they were close to her before she quickly jumped up and over Naruto's head. Without any time to react, two of the clones hit each other and disappeared.

"You're fast." Fuwa commented as he attacked Tarim while she was still airborne. A kick to her stomach sent her flying into a tree at the edge of the clearing.

"Shit…" Tarim slowly stood up, clutching her stomach. "That hurt."

Naruto started to go through the hand seals for a jutsu but Tarim started to charge at him. Naruto stopped the jutsu and pushed Tarim's hand up as she came close to slashing him. He swung his foot up to kick her but she twisted out of range.

"Earth Jutsu: Capture." Fuwa yelled as the earth under Tarim came up and wrapped around her ankle.

_Fuwa? What was that jutsu?_ Naruto thought to Fuwa while pulling Tarim's arm behind her back.

Tarim kicked back at Naruto with her free leg, which caught Naruto in the knee. With Naruto off balance, Tarim pitched forward and flung Naruto to the ground in front of her. She grunted as her shoulder dislocated.

_Just something I thought of… you alright?_ Fuwa came forward to help Naruto up.

_Yeah._ Naruto allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Tarim put an explosive tag on the ground around her ankle. She ground her teeth as the tag went off. "Shit. It's not nice to beat down on a lady. I think I'm losing." Tarim grinned at the boys.

Naruto gave her a concerned look as she inspected her dislocated shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Tarim jerked her shoulder into place. "Fuck… that hurt… yeah, sure, Naruto. I'm all good. Want to go again?"

"Are you sure you can take it?" Fuwa asked as he readied himself for another fight.

Jiraiya returned to the clearing. "That's enough. Good work. But, Tarim, you should have forfeited before you got hurt. Why don't you go to the hospital and get your ankle and shoulder checked out."

"Hn… I could have won if we had continued." Tarim tested her ankle by slowly twisting it.

Jiraiya sighed. "Sure. Now get out of here. I have to get some research done." Jiraiya disappeared before anyone could say anything.

Tarim growled. "Half-assed bastard! He didn't teach us anything!"

Naruto blinked in surprise. " But he stopped us because you were hurt. Why are you angry?"

Fuwa shook his head. "Don't you remember, Naruto? Tarim told us that she knew medical jutsu. Stopping because she's a little hurt is –"

Tarim cut him off. "A lame ass excuse. The bastard is just upset that he didn't get to peep today!" Tarim grinned. "I say we drag him back here and force him to teach us something."

Half an hour later, the trio managed to drag Jiraiya back to the clearing. Fuwa looked over Jiraiya's injuries and laughed. "Those women didn't look all that strong… You're not much of a ninja, are you?"

Tarim shook her head. "Never underestimate the power of an angry-woman stampede!"

Naruto started poking Jiraiya in the head. "Hey! I think he's unconscious. Is this guy really worth it?"

Fuwa shrugged. "He should be if we can get him to teach us." He pulled out a water bottle and poured the contents on Jiraiya's head. "Wake up, already."

Jiraiya shot up into sitting position. "Huh? What happened?"

"You ran off before you finished teaching us." Naruto accused, crossing his arms and glaring at Jiraiya.

"What the fuck? You brats were done for the day. Why are you bugging me now?" Jiraiya complained.

Tarim rolled her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to… oh, I don't know… teach? You know: tell us what we did wrong, what you're going to teach next, that kind of stuff."

"If I do that, will you shut up and go home?" Jiraiya asked, hopefully, eager to get back to peeping.

The three gennin nodded silently.

Jiraiya took a deep breath before starting. "Alright. Now, Naruto, you use the same crap over and over again. You need to learn something new. Also, your reaction time when Tarim dodged was slow. You need to work on your speed. Fuwa, you barely fought. And even when you did, it was defensive or a distraction for Naruto." Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "You have to fight to be a ninja."

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head while turning to Tarim. "What didn't you do wrong? You left yourself open to Fuwa when you were fighting Naruto. Actually, you have no defense at all. You got seriously hurt within five minutes."

Tarim cut him off. "I'm fine. I don't worry about defense because I can heal myself when I get hurt."

"That doesn't work. Healing takes time and chakra that you may not have in an actual battle. Also, is taijutsu the only thing you know? You didn't display any ninjutsu or genjutsu."

Tarim pouted a little. "What? I like taijutsu. I'm not good at ninjutsu and I can't seem to learn any genjutsu."

"You'll work on the ninjutsu tomorrow. Now get lost, all of you." This time, Jiraiya waited for his students to leave before leering and taking off for the bathhouse.

To be continued…

AN: Yay… this is my longest chapter yet… actually… it was going to be two chapters, but I noticed how short it was going to be and kept writing. Man… I really cut into Tarim for her fighting… I really didn't mean to make her that bad… I just wrote the battle then went back over it and picked it apart. Anyway… Jiraiya is a bit off from how he is in the manga. This is intentional… I doubt he would be happy about how he was forced into teaching and I also think he would act differently when he has a team instead of just one student.

The next chapter is going to have a bit of a time skip. I really don't want to drone through an entire month of training.


	7. Chapter 6

AN: hmm… I've noticed that my scene change didn't display for some reason… I hope it wasn't too hard to read without them….

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… which is good for all, because I would royally fuck it up

The Glass

Chapter 6

And since you know you cannot see yourself,  
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,  
will modestly discover to yourself,  
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

William Shakespeare

The next day, Jiraiya started to train Naruto, Fuwa, and Tarim. Naruto was given weights to help increase his speed. Once he got used to that, Jiraiya began to teach him how to summon toads. Fuwa was given a scroll of taijutsu skills to learn and practice. Tarim was taught Underworld Spines, Jiraiya's jutsu for using hair as a shield. Once she graduated from that, she worked with Fuwa on taijutsu.

For most of the month, the training was routine. Naruto could still barely summon a tadpole and Fuwa and Tarim were still trying to beat the shit out of each other.

A week before the third exam, the routine changed. After arriving at the training area, Jiraiya led his students to a deep canyon.

"Yo, Ero-sennin! What are you up to now?" Fuwa questioned, peering cautiously over the edge.

"Just giving Naruto some incentive to get the summons right." With that, Jiraiya pushed Naruto over the edge.

"Naruto!" Fuwa rushed to where he fell and watched as his other self plummeted.

Tarim, on the other hand, grabbed Jiraiya's shirt and pulled him down to see eye to eye with her. "What the fuck is wrong with you! Go help him!"

Jiraiya shook his head and pushed Tarim away from him. He was about to explain himself when a dull thud drew their attention to Fuwa, who had passed out.

* * *

"Hey! Naruto!" Naruto was woken up by Fuwa's voice. "Where the hell are we?" 

Naruto slowly got to his feet and turned to Fuwa. "Huh?"

They both jumped as a loud howl came from one of the nearby hallways.

"That doesn't sound good…" Fuwa commented as he started inching closer to the hallway.

"This feeling…" Naruto headed down the hallway, leaving Fuwa to follow. "It's that chakra…"

The pair came upon a large gate. Naruto started to get closer but Fuwa pulled him back. "Hey! Getting too close to mister large, fuzzy and destructive may not be such a good idea."

Naruto gave Fuwa a blank look. "What?"

Fuwa pointed to the gate. "You know… Kyubi? The only thing that's sealed in your body." Fuwa rolled his eyes as understanding filled Naruto's face.

"**You!**" A deep growl came from behind the gate. "**Kukuku… I didn't think I would see you again…**"

"Again?" Fuwa shifted uncomfortably when Kyubi's eyes focused on him.

"**You don't know?**" Kyubi moved closer to the gate so that he could have a better look at the two. "**I see... You are not him…. He's there… but you are not him.**"

"What the fuck are you talking about!" Naruto yelled, moving closer to the gate.

Kyubi's focus shifted to Naruto. "**Hn… you don't know about the seal, do you? Creating it binds the soul of the target and the user of the jutsu together. That blond monkey you call the Yondaime has been keeping me company in this hellhole for the last thirteen years.**" Kyubi let out a rough laugh. "**Even in a dormant sleep, he annoyed me.**"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Fuwa asked.

"**About a month ago, the little shit disappeared. Now I see why…**" Kyubi snickered. "**Now… For you to come here… What do you want?**"

Naruto and Fuwa looked at each other for a minute before Naruto remember his impending death. "Oh, yeah! Lend me your chakra!"

Kyubi grinned down at his vessel. "**Gwahahaha…If you die then I die, eh? Alright… Here's a gift for coming this far.**"

Naruto screamed as the chakra surrounded his body.

* * *

When Fuwa woke up, Tarim was shaking him violently. "Wake up, you bastard! What's wrong with you?" 

Fuwa grabbed her arms and forced her to stop. "You're not helping, wench!" He pushed her away from him and got to his feet. "Where's Ero-sennin?"

Tarim shrugged. "The bastard took off a couple of minutes ago. He said something about not wanting to be seen and that he really needs to talk to us tomorrow."

"That might not be possible…" Fuwa headed over to the edge of the cliff.

"What do you mean by that?" Tarim joined him at the edge.

"Naruto is – " Fuwa was cut off as the ground started to rumble. He and Tarim watched as Gamabunta jumped up over their heads and landed behind them.

"Shit!" Tarim exclaimed, shielding her eyes from the dirt Gamabunta kicked up. "Naruto summoned something that big!"

Gamabunta turned to where they were standing. He glanced at them briefly before he looked at the scroll on the ground nearby. The giant toad grinned then put the unconscious Naruto down in front of Fuwa and Tarim. "Take him to the hospital." With that, he disappeared.

Tarim started laughing. "Right….This is just too weird." When Fuwa just looked at her, she pushed him towards Naruto. "Hey! You heard the frog. Pick him up and let's go!"

* * *

Naruto woke up to see Fuwa lounging next to his bed. "Hey…" Naruto sat up and looked at Fuwa. "What's up with you?" 

Fuwa yawned. "Nothing really… I've just been feeling lazy since you passed out." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Anyway… Ero-sennin wants to talk to us. I think he's suspicious of us because I went with you to see the fuzzball."

"Naruto? You're awake!" Tarim chirped as she strolled into the room. "About time you woke up." Tarim chuckled as she bounced onto Naruto's bed.

"About time? How long have I been asleep?" Naruto asked, getting out of bed.

"Three days." Fuwa supplied before turning to Tarim. "Do you know where Ero-sennin is?"

"He's probably at the bathhouse." Naruto commented.

"Normally I would agree," Tarim started, "but I think I saw him heading into the Hokage's Tower."

"Hmm… you think we're in trouble?" Fuwa asked Naruto.

Tarim frowned. "For what? Not telling anyone about the division thing?"

Naruto just shrugged. "I don't know… Why don't we just track him down and find out?"

The gennin headed to the Hokage Tower, where they were told to sit in the waiting room. After about ten minutes, they were told to enter the Hokage's office. The Hokage smiled at them and gestured for them to sit down in front of his desk.

"Jiraiya will be here in a minute. I just sent someone after him." He turned his attention onto Fuwa and Tarim. "Hmm… I don't know you two. You're names?"

"Fuwa."

"Kitanaka Tarim."

"Kitanaka?" The Hokage questioned. "Are you Reika's daughter?"

"Yup!" Tarim nodded as Jiraiya entered the room.

"So, the brat's awake…" Jiraiya greeted, settling himself on the edge of the Hokage's desk. "Why don't you two explain what happened at the ravine?"

Naruto and Fuwa shared a look. "Well… for starters…." Fuwa took off his hitai-ate and partially unzipped his shirt to show his face.

Jiraiya frowned. "Explain."

"When we fought with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, I had just activated my Kage Bushin when that snake freak put a seal on my stomach. I was knocked out and when I woke up, Fuwa was there with me." Naruto recounted.

"We're connected, but it doesn't seem as if we draw on the same chakra source." Fuwa added.

The Hokage thought about this for a minute. "And you knew about this?" He asked Tarim after noticing her neutral attitude.

The girl nodded. "Yeah… I met up with them before Naruto returned to his team, so I saw Fuwa before he could disguise himself. "

The Hokage sighed, then pinned down Naruto with a reprimanding look. "If something big like this happens again, make sure to tell somebody about it."

Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "Yes, sir."

Jiraiya walked over to Naruto and lifted up his jacket and shirt. "Pull out your chakra."

Naruto protested and tried to push down his clothes. "What! But…!" He darted a glance towards Tarim.

"Just hurry and do it."

Naruto reluctantly did as he was told. The seal appeared on Naruto's stomach and Jiraiya began studying it. Tarim moved so that she could see what was happening. "That's complex! What does it do?"

Naruto and Fuwa looked over to Hokage, who shook his head. "Don't look at me. It's up to you whether or not you want to tell her."

_Should we?_ Fuwa asked.

_I don't know… I have the feeling that she'll take it well… but that could be just wishful thinking._

_The question is: do you want to risk it?_

Tarim looked between the two while they were talking to each other. "Do you really have to think that hard on it? You know… if it's really that big a deal, you don't have to tell me. I was just curious…"

"No… it's alright…" Naruto started, but paused long enough to get a nod from Fuwa before continuing. "That seal traps the Kyubi inside of me."

"Kyubi?" Tarim asked. "Is that how he was really defeated?"

"Yes…" The Hokage answered. "Kyubi was too strong to be killed so the Yondaime used a forbidden jutsu to seal away its soul into a newborn child."

"Hmm…." Tarim thought for a long while before nodding. "I guess that makes sense."

Jiraiya had long since finished his examination and was watching the exchange with interest. "Nothing surprises you, does it?"

"Huh?" Tarim lifted an eyebrow at Jiraiya. "Why would it surprise me? My mother's been commenting for years that there was more to that fight than was being said. This just explains things."

"Your mother?"

"Kitanaka Reika. A seal specialist." The Hokage supplied. "The Yondaime consulted her numerous times while developing the Shikifuujin."

"So…" Naruto cut in, hesitantly. "You're okay with me being the container of Kyubi."

Tarim bopped Naruto on the head. "Don't be an idiot. Naruto is Naruto. You're still the same guy I became friends with."

Naruto grinned at her and looked like he was about to cry. "Thanks."

Fuwa stared at Naruto. "You need to stop crying when you're happy. You look stupid."

Naruto shot out of his chair and glared at Fuwa. "Hey! Shut up!"

Jiraiya shoved Naruto into his chair. "Anyway…I can tell that this is Orochimaru's work but I'm not entirely sure how Fuwa was created. From what I can tell, the bushin should have deactivated and there should have been a barrier between Naruto and Kyubi's chakra."

"When you threw Naruto off of the cliff, we both went into his mind and spoke to Kyubi." Fuwa explained. "He said that the Yondaime's soul had been disconnected from Naruto and put into me. Could that have done anything?"

Both Jiraiya and the Hokage were surprised at this. "The Yondaime's soul was inside of you? How?" Jiraiya asked.

"Perhaps it would be best to take this matter to Reika." The Hokage suggested. "She should be able to clear up this matter."

To be continued…

AN: Yeah… the Yondaime trapped in Naruto's body… it's an old theory… but I think it's more plausible that the Yondaime being Naruto's father (not that I wouldn't be happy if it turned out that way .)

About Kyubi, he is a little bit different than in the original scene( ie. There's no "I want to eat you"). There are two reasons for this. 1) At the end of this scene and when Kyubi talks at the Valley of the End, I got the impression that he was amused by Naruto (I've never seen the anime, so I don't know how he was displayed there) and 2) He's in a good mood because he no longer has to deal with his enemy. Oh yeah… and some of the lines in that scene are taken directly from the manga.

The scene at the hospital is different because of the time frame. I had Jiraiya do the cliff thing earlier, so Naruto isn't in the hospital the day before the finals and so he doesn't see Shikamaru or Gaara.

The next chapter may take a while because I have a lot to plan out and logic to test. I'm doing my best to explain shit instead of just saying "oh it just happened that way." And I'm trying to make it at least SOMEWHAT believable.


End file.
